Lore of Hearthstone, Episode #20 - Kobolds and Catacombs [Non-Legendaries]

Hearthstone's final expansion for the Year of the Mammoth, Kobolds and Catacombs, is one that isn't actually based on any proper part of World of Warcraft, and simply meant to be a generic throwback to dungeons in general, as well as a homage to the classic grand-daddy of all RPGs, Dungeons and Dragons. While I'm not quite as well-versed in D&D lore as I am with Warcraft, I'll try to point out any cards that are more outright homages to D&D.

Minions - Kobolds:

Kobold (WoW)

We've talked about Kobolds before in Classic, and there's really not much to add about kobolds, really. To quickly recap, they first appeared in Warcraft III as weak rat-people neutral creeps, and in World of Warcraft remained low-level enemies in both major continents of Azeroth. They're distinguished by their love for mining, and the candles they have on top of their heads, as well as their catchphrase: "You no take candle!"  While more powerful variants of Kobolds were seen in Wrath of the Lich King and Legion (the Snobolds of Northrend and the Bluewax tribe of Highmountain, respectively), there's, well, not really much in terms of lore. Which perhaps makes them particularly ideal as the 'face' of the dungeon-themed expansion, as they represent the masses of weaker minions found in a classic, old-school-RPG underground dungeon.

Kobold Apprentice: Kobolds in WoW tend to mostly use geomancy (earth magic), although some are known to be able to wield crude fireballs. No specific mob in WoW corresponds to the title Kobold Apprentice, though.

Kobold Illusionist: Kobold Illusionist is original to Hearthstone, and no kobolds in WoW is known to be able to wield illusion magic.

Gravelsnout Knight: While the Gravelsnout Knight (and the giant moles themselves, which doesn't exist in WoW) is original to Hearthstone, it does borrow its name from the Gravelsnout tribe of Kobolds, which once lived on the area known as the Thousand Needles. During the Cataclysm, the Thousand Needles was completely flooded, and the Gravelsnout kobolds were removed, presumably killed in the process.

Rat

Rummaging Kobold: While scavenging is part of the kobold life, the title of 'Rummaging Kobold' is original to Hearthstone.

Sewer Crawler: The title of Sewer Crawler is original to Hearthstone, and no Kobold in WoW is actually found in sewers. There is a crocodile known as the Sewer Beast in the sewers of Stormwind City, so the Sewer Crawler, judging by its attire, may have slain such a crocodile and worn it as a hat. While I don't think giant rats actually show up in WoW, rats as critters are commonly found.

Cursed Disciple: Cursed Disciple is original to Hearthstone, although he's a warlock or necromancer of some sort, which is actually not a type of magic that kobolds in WoW are known to wield.

Snazzle

Kobold Monk: Kobold Monk is original to Hearthstone, as no kobolds in WoW are known to be a member of the monk class. (We've talked a bit about monks, one of the classes of WoW not yet represented in Hearthstone, during Mean Streets of Gadgetzan.)

Cavern Shinyfinder: Cavern Shinyfinder shares its name with the kobold NPC Snazzle Shinyfinder, which is one of the named Bluewax Kobolds that the adventurer going through Highmountain would recruit and give quests to when disguised as their leader. True to her name, Shinyfinder would return with 'shinies'.

Kobold Hermit: Kobold Hermit is original to Hearthstone. Look at all those fancy candle wax totems! She looks so proud. Some members of the Kobold race is known to practice shamanism, particularly the Geomancers, although none are known to use totems.

Shroom Brewer: Shroom Brewer is original to Hearthstone. Various Dungeon Run bosses and cards focus on the large amount of mysterious mushrooms in the dungeon, and Shroom Brewer is simply one of those.

Fungalmancer: Fungalmancer is also original to Hearthstone, and he's essentially another kobold dealing with mushrooms. The only other character with the title 'Fungalmancer' in World of Warcraft is Fungalmancer Glop, a Stone Trogg in Deepholm.

Grand Archivist: Grand Archivist is original to Hearthstone, apparently a Kobold that learned how to utilize the magic within spellbooks.

Kobold Librarian: Kobold Librarian is original to Hearthstone, and unlike the Grand Archivist, he clearly doesn't know how to utilize the magic within spellbooks, what with accidentally burning them down with his candle.

Twilight Acolyte: Twilight Acolyte is apparently a member of the Old God worshipping Twilight's Hammer Cult, which was greatly featured back in Whispers of the Old Gods. The Twilight Acolyte is a group of humanoids that are one of the mobs in the original Blackfathom Deeps, being generic spellcasters there. None are kobolds, though. These Twilight Acolytes were removed when Blackfathom Deeps was revamped in Warlords of Draenor.

Windshear Stormcaller: Windshear Stormcaller is original to Hearthstone, but they borrow their name from the Windshear tribe of Kobolds that live in the Windshear Mine, a Horde-controlled tin mine in Stonetalon Mountaints. The Windshear Kobolds are apparently working alongside the Venture Company to harass the mine, but they have all been removed from WoW during the Cataclysm, presumably killed during the disastrous event. None of them use totems or are affiliated with Al'Akir, though.


Drygulch Jailor: Drygulch Jailor is original to Hearthstone, although he shares his name with Drygulch Ravine, which is a sub-zone of Durotar. Drygulch Ravine is populated by harpies and centaurs instead of kobolds, though.

Drywhisker Armorer: Drywhisker is a tribe of kobolds found in the Drywhisker Gorge in Arathi Highlands, although none of its members carry the title of 'Armorer'.

Kobold Barbarian: No Kobold hold the title of barbarian, because they tend to be skittish and cowardly, but Barbarian is one of the base classes that often appear in Dungeons & Dragons, which might be the inspiration for this card. The mighty Whompwhisker, one of the bosses in the Dungeon Run, is apparently a very powerful Kobold Barbarian.

Minions - Denizens of the Dungeons:

There is a lot of minions and creatures that live in dungeons, and Kobolds & Catacombs features a particularly large selection of races to talk about. We'll go through races that make their very first Hearthstone debut first, then talk about the rest, yeah?

Furbolg (WoW)

Furbolg Mossbinder: Yay, we get to talk about furbolgs now! Furbolgs are a race of humanoid bear-men who were introduced in Warcraft III as one of the denizens of Kalimdor, and are staunch allies with the night elves. The furbolgs are descended from the bear Ancients Ursoc and Ursol, and thus worship them. The furbolgs lived in peace alongside the night elves and tauren, although they tended to favour night elven locales, particularly those who lived in Ashenvale. Furbolgs practice a form of shamnistic religion, although due to their close ties with the night elves, some furbolgs also practice druidism. The night elven leader Tyrande Whisperwind assisted in the evacuation of a tribe of furbolgs during the Burning Legion's invasion during the Third War, though many of them fell to corruption anyway and had to be put down. The survivors aided the combined forces of Alliance and Horde in fighting against the Burning Legion. In World of Warcraft, several tribes of furbolgs serve as NPCs and allies to the night elven and draenei people, although many furbolg tribes have grown feral, either due to demonic corruption or to Old God corruption. There are very few uncorrupted Furbolg tribes, and attempts to get them to officially join the Alliance has been thwarted by Horde adventurers. The term 'Mossbinder' is original to Hearthstone. This card set is the furbolgs' huge debut into Hearthstone, with multiple Dungeon Run bosses and other miscellaneous artwork featuring furbolgs.

Ettin (WoW)

Hungry Ettin: The Hungry Ettin is a race of two-headed giants (not to be confused with two-headed ogres!) introduced during the Cataclysm expansion, and tend to be found in multiple mountainous areas, particularly in Gilneas. The Forsaken have enslaved some ettins and forced them to haul their wagons through the forest. The ettin are somewhat intelligent, able to form some sort of primitive tribal system. Despite their obvious similarity, Ettins are not actually related with ogres in any way, being native to Azeroth, whereas ogres arrived through the Dark Portal from Draenor. Ettins themselves are prominently featured in D&D material, popularizing the archaic term for giants to refer to two-headed monstrosities living in hills. No WoW mob is called Hungry Ettin, although of course that's a jokey pun on how Ettin sounds like 'eating'.

Fal'dorei (WoW)

Fal'dorei Strider: The Fal'dorei Strider's name is original to Hearthstone, although the Fal'dorei themselves are introduced into WoW in the Legion expansion. When the ancient elven city of Suramar came to light, adventurers who arrived there would discover the existence of the Fal'dorei, a race of former elves. Many years ago, exiles from Suramar apparently came to the town of Falanaar,
and the night elf Farodin took pity on the magic-starved Nightfallen, giving them an arcan'dor tree, a tree that would sustain their arcane magic addiction. However, the arcan'dor tree became unstable and in the tree's death, the elves were transformed into the fal'dorei -- creatures that are half elven, half-spider. They now live in the tunnels beneath Falamaar and have grown numerous, biding their time until they can return to the surface, led by their queen, Orathiss. A group of Fal'dorei serve the Burning Legion under the influence of the Aranasi, a race of spider-like demons. The Fal'dorei's inclusion in the D&D-based expansion is no doubt a reference to one of the most popular monsters in D&D, the half-spider half-drow-elf monster, the drider.

Fungal Enchanter: The Fungal Enchanter appear to be a member of a race of mushroom-people, and these fungus people are also seen in both the Kobolds & Catacombs trailer and the artwork for Dark Pact. While there have been fungal-based creatures in WoW, the Sporelings resemble giant fungus pods as opposed to being humanoid toadstools, and the fungal giants resemble, well, giant lurching beasts. More likely than not, the Fungal Enchanter is a loving homage to the Myconid race from D&D, a race of people who resemble toadstool mushrooms with arms, legs and a face and live in a complex hive-mind underground society.

Shrieking Shroom: Shrieking Shroom is also original to Hearthstone, and might be the juvenile stage of the Myconid-inspired race that the Fungal Enchanter hails from. It is adorable.

Trogg Gloomeater: Trogg Gloomeater is a trogg that's apparently mutated by eating all the fungi in the dungeon. He's otherwise original to Hearthstone.

Sprite (WoW)

Greedy Sprite: Sprites are a race of nature spirits that appear to be made out of wood and leaves that are native to Pandaria and the Wandering Isle, first introduced in Mists of Pandaria. Since then, Sprites have also shown up in Val'sharah in Legion. The Sprites tend to take features of their surroundings to disguise themselves, and they are playful creatures who often like to play pranks onto people that wander into their territory. The Sprites tend to keep to themselves or live harmoniously with the native races of Pandaria, although several fell into Sha or Mogu corruption throughout Mists of Pandaria. The term 'Greedy Sprite' is original to Hearthstone, however.

Draenor Ancient

Ironwood Golem: Ironwood Golem is original to Hearthstone, although it is a Draenor Ancient, a cousin of the Ancients of Azeroth native to Draenor introduced in Warlords of Draenor. The term Ironwood was used in the Ironwood Branch, an item in Warcraft III, as well as several items in WoW are identified as being made out of Ironwood. Supplementary material also note that high elven ballistae and Amani trolls lumber mills are made out of Ironwood. All of these, of course, is one big homage to Ironwood, a type of tree with a very powerful bark from D&D.

Hoarding Dragon: Hoarding Dragon is original to Hearthstone, and represents a more classic dragon-guarding-treasure fantasy as is more similar to D&D as opposed to the immortal angel-esque beings charged to guard the forces of nature as Azerothian dragons are. The Hoarding Dragon is, of course, a member of the black dragonflight.

Sleepy Dragon: Sleepy Dragon is original to Hearthstone. She's sleepy.

Duskbreaker: Duskbreaker is original to Hearthstone, and is a member of the twilight dragonflight. There is a WoW weapon called the Duskbreaker Warmaul, but that has nothing to do with dragons.

Ebon Dragonsmith: The Ebon Dragonsmith is a Dragonspawn member of the black dragonflight. We've discussed dragonspawn before in Blackrock Mountain. While no mob with the title Ebon Dragonsmith exists, black dragonspawn called 'Ebon Slavehunters' are around in the Wetlands, defending dragon eggs from slavers.

Unicorn (WoW)

Shimmering Courser: The Shimmering Courser is original to Hearthstone, although it is a unicorn. Unicorns are sparsely seen in WoW, and tend to only show up as steeds, and they used to use modified Zhevra models. Some historical records note that Dalaran archmagi and high elves used to ride unicorns, but none have actually been seen in-game other than rare player mounts. Legion would add a proper, more majestic-looking unicorn model with a sickle-shaped horn, native to Azsuna. The Nightborne refer to the unicorns as 'monohorns', and a subspecies called 'dreamrunners' seem to be tied to the Emerald Dream, being able to enter and exit at will.

Dire Mole: Dire Mole is original to Hearthstone, as no moles, dire or otherwise, have appeared in WoW. The prefix 'Dire' is often used in D&D to refer to a larger and more powerful version of a real-life animal, however, and is something that many D&D-based fantasy works tend to use, including Dire Wolves and Dire Mammoths in WoW. Dire Mole is also a pun on 'Dire Maul', a dungeon in WoW.

Plated Beetle: Plated Beetle is a type of Scarab-type beetle (we discussed them in League of Explorers) that is original to Hearthstone.

Feral Gibberer: Feral Gibberer is an original creature type to Hearthstone, a fluffball with a giant pair of jaws, two feet and two ears. Marin the Fox apparently encountered some of them during his journey, as documented in Hearthstone blog posts. The term 'Gibberer' brings to mind the classic, scarier D&D monster Gibbering Mouther.

Stoneskin Basilisk

Stoneskin Basilisk: Stoneskin Basilisk is the name of a basilisk mob found in the Jade Forest, introduced in Mists of Pandaria. Basilisks are a type of six-legged, crocodile-like giant reptiles with the notable ability to be able to temporarily turn anything they gaze upon into stone. Crocolisks appear to be closely related to basilisks (read: they are reskins of each other). Basilisk stomachs are apparently so acidic that they can dissolve anything, and often feed on crystals.

Raven Familiar: Familiars are minions conjured by casters, and one of the items dropped by the Shade of Medivh boss from the revamped Karazhan in Legion is the Raven Eidolon, able to summon Guardian Familiars which, you guessed it, are in the shape of ravens in homage to Medivh. The term Raven Familiar is actually one of the possible talents for Medivh in Blizzard's MOBA game Heroes of the Storm, creating a little raven buddy that helps Medivh in fighting his enemies. In D&D, of course, Familiars are very, very commonly found as a possible creation by magic-using classes.

Carrion Worm

Violet Wurm: Violet Wurm is, of course, a huge, cheeky homage to the classic D&D monster Purple Worm, a gigantic purple worm monster with a giant fanged maw. Speaking from a WoW-only lore standpoint, the Violet Wurm is a giant worm, specifically a variation of the carrion worm model with differing sizes of fangs. In particular, where the carrion worm shares the jormungar's two prominent fangs on the sides of its mouth, the Violet Wurm has four on each side of its circular maw.

Corridor Creeper: The mighty Corridor Creeper is, well, a particularly large carrion grub, although none have been specifically called 'corridor creeper' in WoW. Not much real lore beyond that.

Crystal Lion: Crystal Lion is original to Hearthstone, and apparently a golem-esque creature made out of crystal.

Spectral Tiger

Astral Tiger: Astral Tiger seems to be a reference to the various spectral tigers that have been available in World of Warcraft as mounts and pets. Spectral beasts are, well, the spirits of beasts similar to the spirit wolves summoned by a shaman's Feral Spirit spell.

Cave Hydra: While no mob specifically called 'Cave Hydra' exist in WoW, many hydras do live in caves. The Cave Hydra, like Bittertide Hydra, uses the four-legged, scaled and more draconian Draenor Hydra model as opposed to the two-legged, more fish-like hydra more commonly found in Azeroth.

Scorp-o-matic: Scorp-o-matic is original to Hearthstone, and no robot scorpions (other than the different-looking Iron Juggernaut) have been seen in World of Warcraft. Not sure if it references a specific monster in D&D either. I suppose a Rust Monster? A bit of a stretch, though.

Toothy Chest: The Toothy Chest is, of course, a homage to another one of D&D's most famous monster, the Mimic -- creatures that disguise themselves as chests, but are in reality monsters that just happen to disguise themselves as chests and will open their chest to reveal an angry maw ready to eat the unfortunate trapped adventurer. Mimics have since been seen in numerous other video games... other than WoW, surprisingly.

Gilded Gargoyle: Gilded Gargoyle is original to Hearthstone. While Gargoyles exist in the WoW universe (we've talked about them with Stoneskin Gargoyle during Naxxramas), Gilded Gargoyle is completely made out of silver, has a different face and no hair on its body and has its hand separate from the wings, making it match the classic D&D description of gargoyles closer than it does the WoW gargoyle.

Gemstudded Golem: While many items in WoW have the Gem-Studded prefix to them, Gemstudded Golem is a variant of the dwarven war golem original to Hearthstone.

Wax Elemental: Wax Elemental is original to Hearthstone, being a dwarven-style war golem made entirely out of wax with a candle on his head. Kobold-approved!

Benevolent Djinn: We've talked about djinns before in League of Explorers, although Benevolent Djinn is unique in that all djinns seen in WoW so far are male, and this is the first recorded instance of a female djinn.

Murmuring Elemental: Murmuring Elemental is an air elemental original to Hearthstone, although its name might be a reference to the mighty Murmur, a Primordial Elemental and the final boss of the Shadow Labyrinth dungeon. Murmur was a mighty being that was formed when the universe was created and accidentally summoned by the Shadow Council in Auchindoun, and Murmur's presence ripped the catacombs apart.

Arcane Tyrant: Arcane Tyrant is an arcane elemental original to Hearthstone.

Arcane Artificer: Arcane Artificer is an arcane elemental original to Hearthstone.

Leyline Manipulator: Leyline Manipulator is original to Hearthstone. He's an arcane elemental. Ley lines are channels of mana that course through the earth that is described as being 'similar to blood vessels' (perhaps literally, now that we know Azeroth is a slumbering Titan). During the Nexus War, Malygos attempted to redirect all the leylines to the blue dragons' realm, the Nexus, in order to prevent mortals from abusing arcane magic. This caused the creation of many arcane elementals that went wild in the Nexus, most powerful among the Anomalus. None of them are called 'Leyline Manipulator', though.

Seeping Oozeling: Oozes and slimes are a very common enemy trope in D&D, although of course in WoW, oozes have gotten their own unique lore. All the oozes in Kobolds & Catacombs have received brand-new art as opposed to replicating the models from WoW, though. Seeping Oozeling shares its name with WoW's Seeping Ooze, a mob found in the Netherstorm.

Gelatinous Cube (D&D)

Carnivorous Cube: The Carnivorous Cube is original to Hearthstone, but its name is obviously a reference to the iconic D&D monster that has been much-beloved and much-derided, the Gelatinous Cube, a sentient cube that wanders around D&D dungeons and swallows adventurers whole.

Green Jelly: The Green Jelly is original to Hearthstone, though it appears to be an Ooze that, instead of using a human skull like the generic Ooze model in WoW, has stumbled upon a dragon's skeleton instead. Green Jelly's name is a likely reference to Ochre Jelly, one of the iconic slime monsters from D&D.

Corrosive Sludge: Corrosive Sludge is original to Hearthstone, yet another variation of the Ooze model that has came upon the skull of a horned, fanged humanoid as opposed to a regular human skull. The card art for Corrosive Sludge is also used for the Dungeon Run boss the Mothergloop, the source of all the sludge monsters within the Dungeon.

Vulgar Homunculus: There have been two types of creatures called 'homunculus' in WoW. The first is the name of reskinned Imps that populate Karazhan. In Legion, the homunculi are part of the Rogue class storyline, and are a form of undead construct so undetectable that not even an undead expert like Lilian Voss is able to tell them apart from living beings. The homunculi were created by the dreadlords during Legion to counter the demon hunters' ability to see through demons in disguise. The homunculi act and talk like real humanoids until their true identity is revealed. The Vulgar Homunculus appear to be an unique model, either an obese imp or a male version of the Imp Mother, a new type of demon also introduced in Legion.

Void Ripper: Void Ripper appear to be a Voidwalker. He's original to Hearthstone, though, with no WoW mobs being called a 'Void Ripper'.

Voidlord (WoW)

Voidlord: Voidlords are a more powerful version of the common Voidwalker. They are more powerful than regular Voidwalkers, Voidwraiths and Voidcallers, and are distinguished by their prominent breastplate and armour plates. Hearthstone-original character Krul the Unshackled is a Voidlord. Voidlords are very powerful beings that employ mighty shadow magic, and it's implied that these Voidlords are merely 'the faintest of echoes' of the true forms of the Void Lords (with a space!), the manifestations of shadows that exist outside reality and created the Old Gods.One of the most powerful Voidlords that we have seen is Dimensius the All-Devouring, a mighty Voidlord that conquered the ethereal homeworld of K'aresh. The term Voidlord, Void Lord and Void God is often mixed up even in-universe. As it stands 'Voidlord' appears to refer to the armoured, giant Voidwalker-like beings; 'Void Lord' is a race of unfathomable beings that are the true manifestation of the powers of the Shadow; and 'Void Gods' are corrupted naaru.

Hooked Reaver: The Hooked Reaver is a Doomguard whose lower arms has mutated into gigantic blades. Its name seems to draw inspiration from classic D&D monster hook horror, and so far no Doomguards have been shown with blades for arms. (The Shattered Hand orc chieftain Kargath Bladefist did mutilate his arms and replaced them with blades, though)

Sneaky Devil: Sneaky Devil is an Imp original to Hearthstone, although this is the first time that the term 'devil' is used in a WoW. It might be yet another D&D reference, where the fiends of hell are divided into 'demon', 'devil' and 'daemon' categories depending on their nature and who they serve.

Grizzled Guardian: The Grizzled Guardian appear to be a tauren druid shapeshifted into a bear form. It's otherwise original to Hearthstone.

Minions - Adventurers & Humanoids:

Guild Recruiter: Guild Recruiter is a draenei who apparently goes around recruiting members to the non-descript Guild that Marin the Fox and other characters belong to. The Guild system, of course, is a way to form raid and dungeon parties in World of Warcraft, and also tends to be a staple group for adventurers in D&D.

Silver Vanguard: The Silver Vanguard appears to be original to Hearthstone, but damn if she doesn't have a very cool artwork with gigantic gauntlets.

Lone Champion: Lone Champion is original to Hearthstone, seemingly depicting an adventurer who refuses to travel with a party.

Spiteful Summoner: Spiteful Summoner is original to Hearthstone.


Possessed Lackey: Possessed Lackey is original to Hearthstone, although demon possession has been featured several times through the course of WoW.

Bard

Boisterous Bard: Boisterous Bard is a reference to the 'Bard' class, which is one of the most iconic classes in Dungeons and Dragons that features healing and disruptive abilities due to the power of music. Bards have never really been represented in WoW, although as an April's Fools joke, Blizzard announced a Bard Class which would have the players do a Guitar Hero style game with instruments to unleash effects.

Elven Minstrel: The Elven Minstrel is original to Hearthstone, and another homage to the Bard class from D&D.

Dragonslayer: 'Dragonslayer' is an achievement in WoW, but it's more than likely that it refers to the Dragonslayer class featured in several editions of Dungeons & Dragons where as the name implies the class gets bonuses for fighting dragons.

Warlord Zaela

Dragonhatcher: The Dragonhatcher is a member of the Dragonmaw clan, the clan that enslaved the dragons during the Second War, and later split off from the Horde and refused to rejoin the modern-day Horde. The Dragonmaw Clan and the Blackrock Clan were given a gray skin in World of Warcraft, and the Dragonmaw symbol can be seen on the orc's arm. During Cataclysm, Garrosh Hellscream, despite protests from the rest of the Horde, welcomed members of the Old Horde back into the Horde, including the modern-day incarnation of the Dragonmaw -- and the bloodthirsty Dragonmaw Clan led by Warlord Zaela would serve as Garrosh's mightiest enforcers, supplying them with powerful proto-drakes. Note that the Dragonmaw clan used red and black dragons in the Second War, and proto-dragons under Garrosh, so this Dragonhatcher and his association with a blue dragon is... odd.

Spells & Non-Legendary Weapons:

Spells in Kobolds & Catacombs are a bit more variable than normal, since it also has to represent the flavour of a D&D-style dungeon with traps and whatnot, as well as the fantasy of unidentified loot, creating a party and evolving spellstones. So instead of being ordered by class, the spells this time around are arranged by flavour type.

Spells and actions:

Barkskin: Barkskin is an ability for Balance, Guardian and Restoration speciality Druids, which transforms their skin to be as hard as bark, reducing the damage they take by 20% and preventing their spellcasting from being delayed by damage. Barkskin is one of the original abilities for druids and have changed a fair bit throughout the years.

Flanking Strike: Flanking Strike is a Survival hunter ability added in Legion that has both the hunter and the pet instantaneously attack an enemy, and depending on who the specific enemy is attacking, either the hunter or the pet will deal extra damage -- representing the one that the target isn't attacking attacking into the enemy's unprotected flank.

To My Side!: To My Side is more of a reference to Rexxar's line "To my side!" when you cast Animal Companion in Hearthstone, but conceptually getting bonuses if you don't have any spells in your deck seems to be based on the Lone Wolf talent in World of Warcraft, which is given to Marksmanship hunters where if they choose to have Lone Wolf active, they get 18% extra damage permanently, but are now unable to use Call Pet.

Explosive Runes: Explosive Runes is one of the most iconic D&D spells, where a wizard or sorcerer will trace a mystic runes upon any writable object, and when some schmuck reads it, the rune will detonate and deal damage upon the reader. In WoW, runes that cause damage to those who touch or walk on it are numerous, but the only character to explicitly use a spell called 'Explosive Runes' is the fel magnaron Kormrok, a boss in Warlords of Draenor's Hellfire Citadel, where Explosive Runes will spawn around the room that you fight him in and explode if players get near them.

Call to Arms: Call to Arms first appeared in Warcraft III as an ability that Town Halls (or their upgraded versions, Keeps and Castles) can activate, causing all the peasants to run towards the Town Hall and equip fighting equipment, turning into Militia units that can fight against an invading force. Call to Arms is also a feature introduced in Cataclysm to recruit other players for a dungeon. And most importantly, Call to Arms is the title of the most awesome soundtrack in the entire World of Warcraft universe, otherwise known as that music that plays when you drop Tirion Fordring or Archmage Antonidas.

Psionic Probe: Psionic Probe is a combination of two D&D concepts -- psions (essentially a completely different type of magic-wielders) and mind probe (which allows telepaths to, well, probe people's mind). I don't think Shadow Priests in World of Warcraft have any sort of mind-probe spells, though, mostly just mind-spike and mind-blast style spells.

Twilight's Call: Twilight's Call is original to Hearthstone. Its artwork features a twilight dragon seemigly creating little shadowy worm-creatures.

Psychic Scream: Psychic Scream is a Shadow Priest ability that has been around since the original inception of World of Warcraft, which causes several enemies to flee in terror, although higher-level enemies will have a chance to resist it. Psychic Scream is one of the Shadow Priest's main forms of crowd control.

Cheat Death: Cheat Death is one of the original Rogue passives. It's gone through multiple iterations throughout the years, and in its current form, Cheat Death allows the Rogue to temporarily survive at 7% health and take reduced damage for a brief amount of time, allowing rogues to literally cheat death by receiving a heal during this crucial moment.

Evasion icon (WC3)

Evasion: Evasion began life in Warcraft III as a passive ability for the night elf Demon Hunter hero, giving them a chance to simply dodge and negate an attack from the enemy. It's added in WoW as a Rogue ability that can be activated, increasing the Rogue's evasion for a brief period of time. Currently it's only available to Assassination and Subtlety Rogues.

Unstable Evolution: Unstable Evolution is original to Hearthstone, and the art even makes reference to the visual style of the purple tentacles in Whispers of the Old Gods, where the card Evolve was first printed.

Crushing Hand: Crushing Hand obviously depicts a far larger creature squishing a kobold. It shares its name with an add in the Komrok boss fight, as hands created out of stone that attack the adventuring party partway through the boss fight.

Healing Rain: Healing Rain is a Restoration Shaman spell added in Cataclysm that takes 2 seconds to cast, after which the rain will remain in an area to restore health to anyone who stands there. However, it is a relatively mana-draining healing spell.

Dark Pact: Dark Pact is actually the new name for the spell once known as Sacrificial Pact (which itself is a Classic Hearthstone card), where the Warlock would sacrifice part of their demon's health to restore his own.

Cataclysm: On the surface, Cataclysm, of course, references World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the third expansion to be released in WoW where the black dragon aspect Deathwing burst out from the elemental plane of Deepholme and unleashed an earth-shattering event known in-universe as the Cataclysm. This is, of course, reflected in how the Cataclysm card effect is identical to Deathwing's effect... minus Deathwing himself. Cataclysm itself is also the name of a Destruction-spec Warlock ability introduced in Wrath of the Lich King that used to grant a passive bonus to fire spells. The Cataclysm spell was removed in Mists of Pandaria, and revamped as an active spell in Warlords of Draenor where it will, well, cause a localized cataclysm and unleash a crapton of flames upon a location.

Reckless Flurry: Reckless Flurry is original to Hearthstone, although in D&D many Barbarian feats and skills are often prefaced with the term 'reckless'.

Loot:

Lesser Jasper/Emerald/Ruby/Pearl/Diamond/Onyx/Sapphire/Amethyst/Mithril Spellstone: The Spellstones' story is given through, unexpectedly, the flavour text of the cards themselves, which were generally non-serious jokes other than the Spellstones and the Death Knights from Frozen Throne. And they even took the time to write it in bardic-esque poetry! The Spellstones' story begun with the Pearl Spellstone's description, which tells us that Azari of the Burning Legion, during 'ages old, when Ancients broke' (a.k.a. War of the Ancients) to create the powerful Spellstones, gems of power to devour the souls of the weak mortals who used them.
Most of the other spellstones described the effects that they did. The Amethyst spellstone was given to the warlock Rin, who embraced the darkness and slew her kin, and if the Rin card is anything to go by, became Azari's first disciple. The Diamond spellstone fell to 'those of faith', where it apparently had powerful restoration properties, but none who used it knew the true cost. The Emerald spellstone fell onto a Tauren tribe who sought to save their lands, but were instead driven to mindless rage. The Jasper spellstone corrupted an ancient wood and the elves who attempted and failed to purge the demons' shadow. The Mithril spellstone entranced some dwarves who were enthralled in their greed, but found themselves 'forever bound in mithril tombs'. The Onyx spellstone was found by trolls of old, but its influence was so corruptive that 'no party lasts who finds the stone, those wielding it soon stand alone'. The Sapphire spellstone was embraced by a tribe of murlocs beneath the seas, who used the power of the spellstone to replicate and swarm the shore.

The Ruby Spellstone's card text tells the conclusion of this saga, as the final stone was 'spun to wards by nameless caster', used to battle against the mighty Azari himself and eventually sealing the mighty demon in the twisting nether. It's a neat little self-contained story... and, of course, all the spellstones and Azari are original to Hearthstone.

Unidentified
item (Diablo 2)

Unidentified Elixir, Unidentified Maul & Unidentified Shield: The whole concept of 'unidentified' items was famously part of D&D, where any time you discover a magic item, you have to take it to someone who can use 'Identify Magic' to really benefit from the powers, otherwise you won't really know just what the item is. It's also famously used in another Blizzard RPG game, Diablo. I do especially love the 'Tower Shield +10' option for Unidentified Shield, though, which is such a D&D phrasing it hurts.

Potion of Heroism: Potion of Heroism seems to share its name with the Heroic Potion, an item in WoW, that increases strength and health temporarily, which in turn is based once more upon a classic D&D item called Potion of Heroism that tends to give those who drink it temporary hit points.

D&D Deck of Many Things

Shifting Scroll: Shifting Scroll is original to Hearthstone.

Primal Talismans: Primal Talisman is original to Hearthstone.

Deck of Wonders: The Deck of Wonders is original to Hearthstone, and seems to be based on the iconic item Deck of Many Things from Dungeons & Dragons, which is a set deck upon which each card does a random thing when drawn, sometimes beneficial and sometimes not quite.

Candleshot: Candleshot is obviously original to Hearthstone, inspired by the whole kobold obsession with candles.

Bladed Gauntlet: Bladed Gauntlet is original to Hearthstone, although it seems to be conceptually and visually inspired by the blades of the Old Horde orc chieftain Kargath Bladefist, who cut off both his hands and replaced them with blades similar to the Bladed Gauntlet. 

Events:

Oaken Summons:  Oaken Summons appear to be original to Hearthstone, and it seems to be based on the 'summon monster' line of spells from D&D where some classes would be able to summon monsters. It's a bit of a long stretch, though.

Branching Paths: Branching Paths really describes the general exploration of a dungeon and that sometimes, y'know, branching paths come up and adventurers and players will have to make a choice on what to do.

Wandering Monster: A 'Wandering Monster' is a term in D&D that essentially is a random encounter in a dungeon. It varies depending on the version of D&D used, but the dungeon master will roll a dice and depending on a result, one of several possible wandering monsters will attack the party.

Crushing Walls: Crushing Walls is relatively original to Hearthstone, based loosely on the many traps that can be found in dungeons both in D&D and WoW.

Dragon's Fury: Dragon's Fury seems to be original to Hearthstone. The artwork displays a red dragon burning up an army of kobolds.

Level Up!: Level Up, of course, is a reference to the act of, well, leveling up in World of Warcraft, and both the card art and the sound effect accompanying this card is a reference to the bright lights that accompany the act of a character in WoW leveling up after gaining enough experience points.

Sudden Betrayal: Sudden Betrayal is original to Hearthstone.

Gather Your Party: Gather Your Party is a reference to the well-worn trope of how at the beginning of a D&D campaign heroes would tend to gather together at a neutral location like a tavern and decide to, well, 'form a party'.